The present invention relates generally to remote servicing of in-field products or equipment, and more particularly to, a method and apparatus for verifying valid connectivity between centralized online service centers and remote subscribing stations having the in-field equipment, such as medical diagnostic equipment.
Medical diagnostic equipment and supporting systems, such as medical imaging systems, have become increasing complex in recent years. Examples of such systems include magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) systems, computed tomography (CT) systems, ultrasound and x-ray systems, and positron emission tomography (PET) systems. To add to the complexity of each particular imaging system, many facilities today incorporate a variety of such equipment. In larger facilities, the systems may be networked to permit common management and control. Further, such systems may be networked with a picture archiving and communication system (PACS) for storing digitized image data for subsequent retrieval and reconstruction. Additionally, teleradiology systems involve transmitting digitized image data to remote locations for review and diagnosis by specialized physicians and/or radiologists.
Because medical diagnostic systems are critical elements in the diagnosis and treatment of patients, their use must not be inhibited by a slow response for service or maintenance. Due to the increasing complexity of these systems, trained service personnel are oftentimes not on location with the equipment. Therefore, remote servicing of medical diagnostic equipment has become an important tool in maintaining these systems.
Remote servicing of medical diagnostic equipment has traditionally been performed via voice communication between operations personnel and a centralized servicing facility. Operations personnel would call a remote service facility to report malfunctions and ask questions regarding the proper operation and settings for the equipment. When such queries could not be sufficiently handled by telephone, a service or field engineer was dispatched to troubleshoot the system and provide the needed assistance.
Improvements in computer networks have greatly facilitated the task of offering assistance to medical imaging equipment. In particular, rather than having to call a service center and talking to a technician or engineer, or having to await a return call from the service center, network technologies have facilitated proactive techniques wherein the service center may contact the medical diagnostic equipment to check the status of subscribing equipment. Further advancements have been proposed to provide remote service to medical diagnostic systems in an effort to provide the level of service on a continual and interactive basis as needed by many facilities. In one such system, a service center can interactively receive messages via a network and can respond automatically to the messages if configured correctly. Data required to analyze the state of operation of the medical diagnostic equipment can be transferred during an electronic connection. This technique greatly facilitates identification of system problems, allows questions to be posed to the subscribing service provider, facilities transfer of updates and imaging protocols, and permits standard and customized reports to be transmitted to subscribing systems or stations. The interactive aspect of this technique allows the medical diagnostic facility to remain current on services provided by the centralized service facility and to readily communicate with the centralized service facility.
While such advancements in the provision of remote services to medical diagnostic equipment has greatly enhanced the level of service and information exchange, they are subject to unanticipated connectivity problems and require manual configuration by system engineers. In order to perform this checkout procedure manually on each particular piece of medical diagnostic equipment in the field is slow and labor intensive. That is, in order to initiate connectivity, a field engineer must initiate communication with the service facility and manually provide the data required in order to initiate a connection. An engineer at the centralized facility must then manually create a configuration file and download it to the subscribing station, where the field engineer can install it, and after making an initial connection, both engineers must monitor the connection and ensure the systems are properly configured for valid communication.
In present systems, a field engineer generally requests a connectivity check, but the initial connectivity verification sequence is initiated by the service facility to the subscribing system. Therefore, the field engineer does not have any control when the verification sequence is performed and very well may not be present to troubleshoot when it is actually done. As a result, the completion of the installation and verification functionality may not be performed due to this delay, and the field engineer must then come back another time to complete the installation and verification sequence. If the required connection between the diagnostic equipment and the service facility is inoperative, service requests may not be readily submitted to the service facility and information from the service facility to the diagnostic system may not arrive properly or in a timely manner. Intervention by field engineers or online service engineers at the service facility can detect and correct such problems, however, such detecting and correction is typically only initiated after a needed response has not been received for some period of time. The goal is to set up the equipment so to exchange service information and requests on an interactive basis so that the centralized facility can contact the subscribing station at will and conversely, so that the subscribing station can freely contact the centralized service facility and each can exchange data accurately.
It would therefore be desirable to have a system and technique for automated communications connectivity initialization and verification capable of performing the aforementioned checkout procedure automatically and configure a subscribing station to an online service facility such that future communications can occur automatically with a high level of trust that the system has been validated. It would also be advantageous to have a system that could provide a report to authorized personnel of the status of such an automatic checkout and notify the authorized personnel when a status report is available. It would be advantageous to have a system that is flexible to communicate with the authorized personnel based on a mode of communication as selected by the authorized personnel.
The present invention provides a system and method to initiate communications between an on-line center and a subscribing station and verify proper connectivity for future automatic communications that overcomes the aforementioned problems.
The present invention includes a technique that includes both hardware and software by which an on-line center, that has access to service software, at a centralized facility, is capable of servicing in-field product remotely. The service software includes software for service, upgrades, maintenance, or any other similar type functions, and the servicing of the in-field product includes general servicing, upgrading, maintaining, repairing, or any other similar type function. A communications link connects the on-line center to one of many subscribing stations, wherein each subscribing station has a computer controlling an in-field product, such as a medical image scanner. When the on-line center is connected to one of the subscribing stations via the communications link, after receiving customer and product data the on-line center automatically creates and sends a configuration module to the subscribing station to configure the subscribing station to automatically receive service/maintenance software thereafter.
In accordance with the process of the invention, a method of initializing communication with in-field product and verifying connectivity includes first submitting customer and product data electronically to a centralized online system and then automatically creating a configuration module at the on-line center based on the submitted customer and product data. Once the configuration module is created, it is transmitted and loaded in the subscribing station to allow future communications between the on-line center and the subscribing station. After logging off the subscribing station, a first call-back is automatically initiated from the on-line center to the subscribing station and a file is uploaded to the on-line center to verify proper connectivity.
In accordance with another aspect of the invention, a networked system is disclosed to initiate communications with an in-field product and configure the in-field product for future automatic call-backs and includes an on-line center node linked to an on-line center having access to at least one database to store customer data and a processor to create a product/customer configuration module. The networked system includes a number of subscribing station nodes, each linked to its own field product and having operational software loaded therein. A communication interface is connectable to the subscribing station node and the on-line center to transfer data. The communication interface includes a computer, such as a laptop for use by a field engineer, having a browser program to link the subscribing station to the on-line center node through an interconnected server node network, such as an internet or an intranet. The communication interface can also include a direct dial-up link, or a telephone and a voice recognition system, for example. Upon initialization and customer data input, which includes field product data, the customer data is transferred from the subscribing station node through the communication interface, and to the on-line center node. After processing by the on-line center, the on-line center sends the created product/customer specific configuration module through the communication interface, and to the subscribing station node to configure the field product automatically for future automatic communications with the on-line center node.
In accordance with another aspect of the invention, a computer data signal that is embodied in a carrier wave represents a set of instructions which when executed by one or more processors, causes the one or more processors to run a connectivity initialization and verification on a field product is disclosed. The instructions include connecting a subscribing station to an on-line center for data transfer and transmitting customer data to the centralized on-line center wherein the customer data is processed and a configuration module is created therefrom. The configuration module is then transmitted to the subscribing station to configure the subscribing station for connectivity verification and allow future automatic communications. The connection between the on-line center and the subscribing station is then disconnected, and after a period, the connection is reconnected in order to verify valid connectivity.
In accordance with yet another aspect of the invention, a computer program stored on a computer-readable storage medium is disclosed which, when executed by one or more computers, will cause the one or more computers to retrieve customer and product data electronically in a centralized on-line center and create a configuration module at the on-line center based on the submitted customer and product data. The configuration module is then transmitted to a subscribing station which has the field product associated therewith. After loading the configuration module into the subscribing station, the subscribing station is then configured to allow future automatic communications between the on-line center and the subscribing station. After logging off the subscribing station, the on-line center automatically initiates a first call-back to the subscribing station and uploads a file therefrom in order to verify connectivity. Optionally, if the in-field product is capable of dial out function, the program causes the computer to initiate a dial out test from the subscribing station to the on-line center within a predetermined time period after disconnection.